What's All This Whining About A Blizzard?

OP-ED

Two feet of snow is a lot. It's enough to shut down roads, close businesses and essentially, bring life to a halt. It's undoubtedly inconvenient and potentially dangerous.

But considering the amount of time it took for life to return to normal for most citizens here in Connecticut, unjustified complaints about slow snow removal during and after the recent blizzard should fall on deaf ears.

There was a time in this country's history when snow removal relied on manpower and maybe some horses. That time, by the way, lasted a couple of hundred years and even moderate snowfalls could prove disastrous and deadly. People would be completely cut off from civilization for weeks and the economy and general infrastructure could take a savage hit.

So, now, a storm comes and dumps 2 feet of snow on the region and within 48 hours, the majority of people affected are going about their daily lives. It's a fair estimate to say that even during the travel ban, those with four-wheel- or all-wheel-drive vehicles could feasibly reach help if necessary. And if they couldn't move, help could very possibly reach them. Within hours of the ban being lifted, most could get around quite well, although some roads still remained treacherous.

Power was lost but for the most part, quickly restored. We could see pavement on some major roads even during the blizzard. While it's certainly true that snow removal crews were initially overwhelmed by the sheer amount of snow, life really only came to a standstill for a matter of hours, not weeks. Not even days. Considering the size of the storm, the amount of snowfall and the high winds, I'm actually astonished that travel and power were restored so quickly. Those complaining bitterly would not have fared well a century ago.

I don't necessarily mean, however, to pay homage to the thousands of machines that effectively battled a historic blizzard while many, if not most, state residents sat home, safe, warm and well fed. What is concerning is not that people worried about the storm, or that people found it inconvenient. There is always cause for concern and of course it's inconvenient. What's disturbing is that every time these situations arise, I'm struck by just how helpless so many of us have become. This is also directly related to the terrible health of the nation.

I've had people stop outside my house when I'm shoveling my driveway. They're not asking for directions; they're warning me. Some are flat-out chastising me for shoveling. I am not overweight and, in fact, most who see me would think I'm precisely the person who could handle the tiring activity. I'm 34 and in better shape than most and I often enjoy shoveling as it's cardiovascular exercise and a satisfying chore. Admittedly, I had my fill of snow during the blizzard, but the point is that nobody should be stopping to yell at me for shoveling snow.

That's worrisome. We're that bad off? Maybe this is why people are complaining so much about an inconvenience that lasted only a day or two. That's precisely what it was, considering the relative rapidity with which we removed that gigantic amount of snow and restored power: an inconvenience.

As we've become spoiled and almost utterly reliant on our advances, and as our fitness has continued to decline, we're in worse shape than ever. If we didn't have our machines to aid us, a blizzard of that magnitude would indeed be a mass killer of people and businesses. When only men with shovels and horses with plows fought the snow, nobody yelled at anyone for shoveling. In fact, I'm fairly certain that if you were a 34-year-old male in obviously decent shape, you'd be yelled at for not shoveling.

So maybe I'm wrong. Maybe people are complaining because deep down, they know they're in a terrible predicament if their technology fails them. Then again, maybe they never thought of this and they're just whining. Hard to say.